Sociodemographic and Institutional Determinants of Subject Choice: A Case of Public University Students in Bangladesh

Abstract

Subject choice is a critical decision in students’ academic and career trajectories, influenced   by   multiple   determinants. This   study   was   conducted   to   examine sociodemographic and institutional determinants that affect subject selection of the students at public university in Bangladesh. From 580 students, data were collected from a sample of 172 students using an online self-administrated questionnaire that was  made  available  by  multistage cluster  random  sampling  method.  The  research recognized  that  parental  education  (p=0.045),  employment  (p=0.032),  and  wealth (p=0.023)  had  a  good  influence  on  the  selection  of  science-related  subjects  by students.  Equally,  important  institutional  factors,  including  reputation  (p  =  .045), subject  status,  and  teaching  quality  (p  =  .004  and  p  =  .012,  respectively),  were instrumental  in  predicting  the  subject(s)  that  were  to  be  chosen.In  this  study  the overall reliability of demographic index (DI) was Cronbach’s α = 0.558 whereas, for institutional index (II) it was Cronbach’s α = 0.939.  However, the result of ANOVA suggested that the students those are studied in science and engineering faculty had relatively  higher  focus  on  socioeconomic  status(p  =  0.000) and  institutional determinants  (p  =  0.002)  than  other  faculty.  Likewise,  students  from  science background  in  HSC  were  more  concerned  on  socioeconomic  (p  =  0.004)  and institutional determinants (p = 0.009). The research suggests that authorities should increase  financial  support  and  provide  necessary  sustenance for  the  growth  of pluralist and democratic educational environment in Bangladesh.